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Service Run

Definition - What does Service Run mean?

The service run is a part of the operating cycle of a water conditioner in which the raw water supply is passed through a conditioner, thereby producing purified water.

In water conditioning units, softeners have two main modes, or runs, of operation: service and regeneration. During the service run, the softener exchanges "hard" cations for sodium, causing progressive depletion of exchangeable sodium to the point of exhaustion.

Service run also refers to a service unit. The term is sometimes applied to softeners or filters which are regenerated or backwashed at a central point and transported to the point of use for connection to the water system.

Corrosionpedia explains Service Run

The service run is that portion of the operating cycle of a water conditioning unit in which treated water is being delivered, as opposed to the period when the unit is being regenerated.

During service, water flows downward through the bed, causing the resin spheres to become tightly packed. The first step of the regeneration cycle, backwash, loosens and expands the media by directing water flow upward through the resin bed. Continued backwashing cleans the resin of particles, including resin fragments or "fines" trapped in the densely packed bed during the service cycle. In addition to cleaning, the loosened condition of the resin bed promotes uniform flow of brine and rinse water during later steps of the regeneration cycle.

In the service run, introduction of sodium chloride, or brining, occurs next. The volume of brine drawn and the duration of this step are individualized according to local circumstances, which include the volume and hardness of water which has passed through the softener during service, the extent to which sodium has been depleted from the resin, and the volume and configuration of the resin bed.

Next, the softener is "slow rinsed" to remove the brine solution present in the softener at the termination of brining. Slow rinsing is typically accomplished by stopping the inflow of brine and continuing water flow in the same direction and flow rate.

The final step is the regeneration process. It is fast rinsing, which completes the removal of brine from the resin bed with a brisk flow of water being maintained in the same direction as during the service cycle.